What Does Isaiah 48:20 Mean?
Come out of Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans, and with the voice of a ringing cry, declare it, make it heard, bring it out to the edge of the earth. Say, The LORD has bought back his servant Jacob.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.THE KEY
In Hebrew, “go out” of Babylon and “bring it out” to the edge of the earth share one root: release itself becomes the announcement.
THE MEANING
When a constricting hold breaks, departure and declaration move together: the LORD’s reclaiming of Jacob is voiced to the farthest edge. Leaving does not erase the one who leaves; the announcement names who is being reclaimed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this verse dissolves is that Babylon’s hold is final, or that escape must happen in silence. The one who goes out also speaks of the reclaiming.
THE ROOT
צְאוּ
tze’u
GROWS FROM
יצא
To go out or emerge; in its causative form, to bring out.
“come out” in this verse is tze’u. The verse uses this root for both going out of Babylon and bringing the announcement out to the earth’s edge. Hebrew joins release and proclamation as one outward movement: what leaves the place of constriction carries its news with it.
ALSO GROWS
hotsi: Bring out; cause to go out.
הוֹצִיא
This causative form makes the announcement itself something carried out into the open.
motsa: An exit, outlet, or going forth.
מוֹצָא
The same root can name a way out, echoing the departure from Babylon.
גָּאַל
ga’al
GROWS FROM
גאל
To redeem or reclaim, especially as a kinsman who restores what belongs to the family.
“bought back” in this verse is ga’al. “Redeemed” holds the sense of being reclaimed, not merely rescued from danger. Jacob leaves Babylon under a claim that Babylon cannot erase: the LORD calls this servant his own.
ALSO GROWS
go’el: A redeemer or close kin who reclaims.
גֹּאֵל
This branch reveals the relational force in the LORD’s act toward Jacob.
ge’ullah: Redemption or reclaiming.
גְּאֻלָּה
The noun names the restoration carried in the verse’s announcement.
רִנָּה
rinnah
GROWS FROM
רנן
To ring out in a joyful cry or song.
“ringing cry” in this verse is rinnah. The departure is carried by a ringing voice, not a muted escape. The related forms of this root make the announcement sound like an audible release, so the news of reclaiming can travel.
ALSO GROWS
ranan: To sing or shout joyfully.
רָנַן
The verb shows the voice in motion, carrying the declaration outward.
renanah: A joyful song or cry.
רְנָנָה
This branch keeps the verse’s proclamation in the register of voiced joy.
THE PATTERN
Release from a constricting power becomes public speech that carries the news of reclaiming beyond the place of departure.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he has redeemed from the hand of the one who presses.Burst into joy, ring out together, you parched places of Jerusalem. For the LORD has comforted his people; he has bought back Jerusalem.And I hear another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, so that you do not share in her shortcomings, and that you do not receive from her blows.THE THREAD
Burst into joy, ring out together, you parched places of Jerusalem. For the LORD has comforted his people; he has bought back Jerusalem.“Redeemed” in both verses comes from גאל (ga’al), reclaiming what belongs to the family. Isaiah 52:9 also joins that reclaiming to song, letting the voice of release rise even from waste places.
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